Chapter 414: Master of Acting

"I knew there was definitely something wrong."

Feeling the strength in his body being absorbed bit by bit, Shen Yu saw a scene of birds singing and flowers blooming before his eyes, and his body involuntarily wanted to walk out.

Then, his body gave a slight jolt, and he suddenly woke up from the illusion, immediately becoming cautiously guarded.

These days, there aren't many things that can affect him.

Looking outside in the blink of an eye, the villagers in the village were walking out in a daze, heading in the direction of the back mountain.

After leaving the village, fresh blood began to seep out from their bodies, floating in the air.

The blood from everyone's bodies was extracted in this numb state and gathered at a spot in the back mountain.

If an ordinary person saw this scene, they might have already been scared out of their wits. Anyone seeing a group of people with smiles on their faces while blood constantly flowed from their bodies would likely be terrified.

No wonder these villagers, despite being immensely strong, usually looked weak and frail; it felt very discordant.

Being bled like this every day, even an iron man couldn't withstand it; it would be strange if their blood and Qi were sufficient.

Looking toward the back mountain, he had previously heard the villagers say that one shouldn't go to the back mountain when there was nothing to do, as it was unstable.

The reason was that there were originally several hunters in their village, but they never returned after going to the back mountain to hunt, and when they were found, they had been gnawed into unrecognizable states.

Later, there were several more times when villagers accidentally entered the back mountain, and they all never returned.

The villagers suspected that man-eating beasts had appeared there, so they strictly forbade anyone in the village from going to the back mountain, but now it seemed there was indeed a problem with the back mountain.

Following the place where the blood gathered, Shen Yu sneaked in. Not long after entering the back mountain, he felt the traces of an Array.

It couldn't be felt during the day, but at night, when the villagers' blood was gathered here, these Arrays began to appear.

Transforming his body into nothingness, Shen Yu's body slowly permeated into the Array, and he saw a figure sitting cross-legged inside.

This was an old man with white hair and beard, but he lacked the kindness of an ordinary old man, possessing only a ferocious face full of flesh. The first impression he gave was that this old man was no good person.

His face, covered in gullies like old tree bark, revealed an expression of excitement; as this blood mixed and merged into his body, his aura became increasingly profound.

At this moment, his smile made one's heart tremble, as if he might eat someone at any time.

"It's almost time; it was worth waiting for so long!" After swallowing all the blood into his belly and completely refining it for his own use, the old man let out a soft breath, stood up, and slowly walked toward the village.

When he was about to enter the village entrance, the old man hesitated for a moment, but then gritted his teeth and tentatively walked forward slowly.

The entire process of entering the village was without any waves; the old man moved into the village bit by bit, the expression on his face somewhat surprised, followed by uncontrollable ecstasy.

The excitement on his face seemed impossible to suppress; could entering a village make him this excited?

"Finally reached this step; it was worth waiting for so long. I have now completely adapted to your bloodline and can enter here completely."

"You just wait for me; everything of yours is mine."

Walking into the village, the old man still maintained a cautious posture, fearing that some accident might occur. However, to his fortune, nothing happened, and he arrived at his destination smoothly.

The village was large, and in the center of the village was a small lake where trickling streams gathered.

The small lake was right in the village, making it very convenient for the villagers to use water; the water used for their food, clothing, and daily needs was basically obtained from here.

The old man walked to the edge of the small lake, looking at it with excitement, and with a wave of his hand, the lake water surged to both sides in an instant, revealing the silt at the bottom of the lake.

Afterwards, the outer layer of sludge began to move to the sides bit by bit; throughout the process, the old man was very careful, fearing that a moment of inattention would lead to trouble.

Then, a figure was revealed deep at the bottom of the lake, a figure with eyes closed, looking as if they had fallen into a deep sleep.

Located at the bottom of the lake and buried in the sludge, there was not a speck of dirt on their body, and even their clothes were not soaked.

Their aura was no different from an ordinary person's; at first glance, they looked just like an ordinary person.

【Empty】

Seeing this figure, Shen Yu, who was on the side, was also shaken; this person was none other than Mu Zishan. The more one couldn't see any difference, the more it proved how terrifying Mu Zishan was at this moment; he was likely far stronger than himself.

Looking at the old man's cautious appearance, he was clearly full of dread.

"I've waited for so long, and finally, this day has come. Soon, your body will belong to me!"

Bringing Mu Zishan's body up, the old man excitedly reached out to strip away the power within the body and claim everything for his own use.

However, just as the old man made a move, a counter-shock force of equal strength arrived, severely injuring him in the blink of an eye.

This was the body's instinctive defense; even if Mu Zishan was in a deep sleep, he was not someone just anyone could touch.

Although the old man was strong, he had no room to even look, and could only look at Mu Zishan with unwillingness; the fat meat was right in front of him, but he could only look and not eat—how could he be reconciled?

He had already waited for so long and had long since run out of patience. But when he looked at Mu Zishan, a flash of dread also crossed his face.

"You just wait for me; I don't believe I can't gnaw through your body."

"Now that I have adapted to your bloodline, I will go and swallow those ants and completely refine the bloodline in their bodies too. I'm not in a hurry; I can take it slow!"

The old man gritted his teeth as he spoke; although he said to take it slow, anyone could see the ferocity and urgency on his face.

Glancing at the tightly closed eyes of Mu Zishan and recalling everything he had encountered during this time, Shen Yu also generally understood what was going on.

It was likely that when the Forbidden Land collapsed that day, Mu Zishan did not collapse under the torrent of Spirit Qi, but was impacted here, fell into this small lake, and sank into the sludge.

Moreover, Mu Zishan must have been injured at the time, and the blood from his wounds seeped out and mixed with the lake water.

The people here drank the lake water containing Mu Zishan's blood, and coupled with the Spiritual Qi Surge, they began to become immensely strong.

As for the old man in front of him, it was unknown whether he knew Mu Zishan was here from the beginning or found out later.

Regardless, these old monsters drooled over people like Mu Zishan and would risk their lives to obtain him.

Knowing Mu Zishan was here, if they could swallow his power, who in the world could compete with them? How could they not be crazy?

If his guess was correct, this old man couldn't step in here at all.

Although Mu Zishan was unconscious, his instinctual perception of danger remained; once someone with Martial Arts or a dangerous character stepped in here, it would be seen as a provocation, followed by an instinctive counterattack.

It was likely that this old man had suffered more than a little, and was almost beaten into having psychological trauma.

As for why he himself had not been targeted, it was likely because he held the Soul Bead, which contained a trace of Mu Zishan's Mental Power, belonging to the same source.

The reason this old man went to such lengths to absorb the blood of these villagers was precisely because they had drunk the lake water containing Mu Zishan's blood, leaving Mu Zishan's bloodline in their bodies.

And as long as the old man obtained Mu Zishan's blood to assimilate into his own body, he would be considered one of his own and would not be targeted by Mu Zishan's instinctive power.

Moreover, he was still patient enough not to drink poison to quench his thirst, knowing what it meant to let the water flow long and not drain the villagers' blood dry.

Only if these villagers remain alive can they continuously drink the lake water, so that the bloodline of Mu Zishan within their bodies will increase more and more, and in this way, the blood he obtains will also become more and more.

Until today, having accumulated to a certain degree, he finally attempted to walk over here, and successfully arrived at this place, digging out the body of Mu Zishan.

This attempt was likely not made just once or twice; at the time, Shen Yu clearly saw that the old man was somewhat surprised after sensing success, which then turned into irrepressible excitement.

Having obtained the body of Mu Zishan, what remained was to slowly absorb his power and hollow him out completely.

"Mine, all of it will be mine!" Standing before Mu Zishan, the old man looked at the person opposite him with eyes full of ambition.

He believed that one day he would completely refine the body of Mu Zishan, and the power of such a Heavenly Pride would all be his own.

And he himself would become a person above others; he would surpass everyone and ascend to that supreme peak.

Yet what he did not know was that behind him, someone had already quietly reached out a hand, preparing to give him a strike.